Video: Cook up a spring feast of scallops, ramps, asparagus

>>this morning in "today's kitchen" seared scallops is what is for dinner. eric is executive chef of restaurant north in new york. good to see you.

>>good to see you.

>>seared scallops, this is my favorite time of the year because ramps are in season.

>>six weeks of the year, six wonderful weeks.

>>for people who don't know what they are.

>>ramps are wild onions, cultivated on shorelines of creeks and stuff, completely wild, beautiful, they're a scallion on steroids.

>>they're strong.

>>beautiful perfumy aroma, amazing.

>>we're making a vinaigrette.

>>with the tops of it, we'll blend them with honey and
sherry vinegar
and drizzle in some
olive oil
. in the cooking process, just dripping things all over the place. so in the cooking process the heat cooks the dressing and we shock it. this is not working all this well.

>>needs a little more liquid. there we go. all right.

>>woohoo! so we're going to take this and shock it in an ice bath.

>>why?

>>we keep that green color. if you stop the cooking process of the heat it keeps it green and beautiful and wonderful and we'll mix that up. drop it over here with our scallops. quick easy pickup, asparagus in a little bit of
olive oil
and
salt and pepper
and crumbled blue potatoes, these are from blooming hill farm in
upstate new york
, we take this and it's easy and simple, a little bit of citrus, we use
grapefruit juice
, a little
lemon juice
and chives and butter, and just kind of glaze it real nice and real quick. it's probably too much butter.

>>no such thing.

>>i hear you. so it's just a really quick thing to have these cooked ingredients around is just what you're looking for. we'll take to you the plate, a little bit of this guy, a little bit of this dressing, which we'll get to, would you like to put that on there?

>>sure, drizzle it.

>>be artistic.

>>you've already seared the scallops.

>>cooked hem in a really hot pan in
canola oil
90 seconds each side. you lift them up and down to get this beautiful
golden brown
the entire way around. by lifting them up and down in the oil when it's super hot you get an even gorgeous
golden brown
sear.

>>when people are buying scallops what should they look for?

>>you should look for firmness. it should be firm and dry and you should have absolutely no odor. if you get all those things together you'll have a beautiful scallop. these are u10. u10 just means in restaurant lingo there's under ten in a pound so it's a size difference.

Ingredients

Two bowls, one full of ice, one perched atop the ice to chill the dressing quickly

1 cup ramp leaves, roughly chopped

2 tbsp sherry vinegar

1/4 cup evoo

1 tablespoon honey

Salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation

For the scallops:

In a non-crowded heavy bottom sauté pan, heat the canola/olive oil blend to almost smoking point. Season the scallops with salt and pepper. Place each one in the hot oil, and continue to rotate them by lifting them up and down. This allows the oil to sear the scallops evenly (even in all their crevices). Sear on both sides until golden brown, about two minutes each side, then let rest.

For the vegetables:

You can do the majority of the vegetable prep ahead of time and just toss everything together in a pan quickly after the scallops are cooked. Well in advance, you should boil the blue potato until it is fork tender, then refrigerate. When it is completely cooled, peel and liberally crumble with your hands, leaving uneven chunks.

Wash and peel the asparagus and cut them into 1-inch pieces. In a large sauté pan, heat half of the butter and sauté the asparagus on its own. Season with salt and pepper, and cook for approximately 45 seconds. Then add the potatoes, citrus juices, the remaining butter and the chives. Warm through until it is glazy and delicious.

For the dressing:

This can be made ahead of time. Combine all ingredients except for the olive oil in a high speed blender. (A drink blender works fine.) Have an ice bath ready and awaiting the finished product. Start the blender slowly and puree the ingredients, while slowly raising the speed to high and incorporating the olive oil little by little. When the dressing is fully emulsified, incorporated and bright green, it is ready to be shocked in the "ice bath." The friction of the blender actually cooks the ramp tops so you must cool it quickly to keep the bright green color, as you would when blanching a green vegetable.